Al Lopez Field
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| Location | Tampa, Florida |
|---|---|
| Owner | Tampa Sports Authority |
| Operator | Tampa Sports Authority |
| Capacity | approximately 5000 |
| Field size |
Left - 340 ft. |
| Surface | Grass |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | 1954 |
| Opened | March 1955 |
| Closed | 1988 |
| Demolished | Spring 1989 |
| Construction cost | $287,901 |
| Tenants | |
|
MLB Spring Training Chicago White Sox (1955-1959) Cincinnati Reds (1960-1987) Minor Leagues Tampa Tarpons (FSL) (1957-1988) |
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Left - 340 ft.
Center - 400 ft.
Al Lopez Field was a spring training and Minor League baseball park in West Tampa, Tampa, Florida, United States. It was named for Al Lopez, who was the first Tampa native to play Major League Baseball (MLB), manage a MLB team, and be enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Al Lopez Field was built in 1954 and hosted its first spring training in 1955, when the Chicago White Sox moved their training site to Tampa from California. Al Lopez became the White Sox's manager in 1957, and for the next three springs, he was the home manager in a ballpark named after himself. The Cincinnati Reds replaced the White Sox as Al Lopez Field's primary tenant in 1960 and would return every spring for almost 30 years. The Tampa Tarpons, the Reds' Class-A minor league affiliate in the Florida State League, played at the ballpark every summer.
In 1988, the Reds moved their spring training home to a new facility in nearby Plant City, Florida. The Tarpons became an affiliate of the White Sox and played one more season at Al Lopez Field before moving to Sarasota. The empty ballpark was razed in 1989 in the hope of building a larger stadium for a potential major league team at the site, but those plans never came to fruition. Raymond James Stadium was built at the former location of Al Lopez Field in 1998.
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Wikipedia